Film Review

Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, the hit musical has been turned into a movie and I have to say, the film is sensational. It’s always hard turning a musical into a film. While you can always do more with a film because of the locations, you sometimes lose the intimacy that you get by seeing a live musical. Perhaps that’s true, but I feel like this film more than makes up for it with a great cast and the same fantastic music. Jonathan Butterell had the daunting task of turning his stage musical into the film and he did a fantastic job. I’m sure there’s more of an intimacy with the musical, but having never seen it, I can honestly say that I still feel a connection through the film because it was filmed in Sheffield, this tiny community outside of London so from that standpoint the magic from the stage musical has been captured in my opinion.  Small communities can have that effect. I’m not going to tell you that it’s a perfect movie. There’s always advantages and disadvantages to having a musical being turned into a film and each version can feel different while also feeling the same.

If you don’t know the story of Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, it’s about a teenager who isn’t just coming out as gay, everybody already knows he is.  It’s about him wanting to be a drag queen and get into that culture. It’s one thing to come out, but to get into a culture that inflames all these stereotypes for those who are disgusted by the culture and discriminate, Jamie’s journey is a lot harder than the typical teenager who’s coming out as gay. You still deal with bigotry from teachers and classmates, especially when your main character wants to go to prom in drag and they won’t let him. I think it’s easy to think that once a person has come out, it’s automatically liberating, but compound that with getting into the drag culture, there’s a whole new level of bigotry that comes with it, which can be harder on teenagers. But like all coming-of-age stories, the main character has to deal with a sometimes, tumultuous relationship with his parents. In this case, Jamie’s father just can’t understand why he has a gay son when all he wanted was a son that he could do things with like taking the sporting events, so of course the father wants nothing to do with the character. The heart of the story is a teenager being free to be who he wants to be with the guidance of an older gay mentor who lived with the bigotry especially during the AIDS crisis and thus shedding the disappointment of his father.   I can’t say if the musical or the movie is better, but I can’t say that the movie is a good version of the story and if you love the music then you definitely won’t be disappointed with this film. What makes the film truly work is the cast. Max Hardwood is fabulous as Jamie after having interviewed him, it’s not hard to see why. Check out my interview! Lauren Patel, who is starring in her first featured film is also fantastic as the best friend. But I also feel like this movie is really made because of Richard E. Grant…the older gay mentor who designs costumes. But then again isn’t he great in anything he does. Sarah Lancashire shines as the mother and it’s not hard to love Sharon Horgan, although I never liked to see her in a nemesis role because he’s too funny. The cast is what makes this a great companion piece to the musical.

Like all films, especially musical films, it’s not perfect. One of the things that I love about musicals is because you get such an intimacy watching it live, the pacing always seems perfect and you know how I love to argue about pacing in a film. There are times that I think they forgot that this is supposed to be more of a musical, but they’re trying to hard to be a film. And that’s fine, but sometimes breaking into song can ruin these great dramatic moments with the cast. However, it’s not like every movie based off of a musical doesn’t suffer from this problem. I love the music and I love the pageantry, but the pageantry is more for the musical version more than it is for the film and I think I definitely could have enjoyed this as a film without all of that while getting the same feeling I get with the story.  The film can invoke the same feeling as I would have if I were watching the musical.  I know the pageantry is supposed to be all in the main characters head and how he views things, but sometimes it doesn’t always work in the film. Then again well this may be a minor critique, this is a movie about a character wanting to get into drag so the pageantry is a must. All I’m saying is sometimes you can get lost in the story itself because it’s a film wanting to be too much like the musical and great musicals are meant to be seen live, am I wrong! So, the pacing is a little off because of that, but in the world of film, you can still make this fantastic pageantry through song and dance that brings the story to life just like the musical.

All in all, this is a great film and it’s definitely been 25 years since we’ve had a great film from Sheffield. The last one being The Full Monty. But what truly makes this film worth watching is for those who never got to see the musical live, you get to share this wonderful coming of age story about a teenager not only coming out, but getting into a culture that is full of life and promise, and shows us how we can truly be free with ourselves. There’s inspiration to take from this story. Plus, when you add a fantastic cast that looks like they could have been picked right off from the stage to be in movie, a good cast can make any movie better than what it is and they’re the ones that truly make this movie shine. So, if you’re looking for something to watch on Amazon, if you need a good coming-of-age story even if it feels a little bit familiar, but one with gorgeous pageantry then Everybody’s Talking About Jamie is worth watching. Also, there’s no greater nemesis than a teacher that won’t allow you to truly enjoy your own prom the way it should be enjoyed and I think every teenager can relate to that. Enjoy the great music, enjoy the fantastic cast, and you will not be disappointed, especially if you’re looking for something to watch on Amazon this weekend!  If you can’t see the musical live, the film is a perfect alternative.